Osthole suppresses migration and invasion of A549 human lung cancer cells through inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and matrix metallopeptidase-9 in vitro.

Osthole, a natural compound, may be extracted from Cnidium monnieri and other medicinal plants. Previous studies have shown that osthole has anticancer effects in various human cancer cell lines. There is, however, no available information concerning the effects of osthole on the migration and invasion of human lung cancer cells. In the current study, we used Transwell assays to demonstrate that osthole inhibited the migration and invasion of A549 human lung cancer cells. Western blot analysis revealed that osthole reduced the levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and matrix metallopeptidase-9 (MMP-9) in the A549 human lung cancer cells. Our findings indicate that osthole may have a novel function as an inhibitor of the metastasis of human lung cancer.